Birds and the Flu

[MissLady9902]

My husband and I both have the flu.
I was wondering if birds can catch it from us.

[Michael]

Pretty certain that they cannot.

[lzver]

I'm not really sure if they can get it from you or not, but I keep my distance from my birds when I'm sick. I definitely don't handle them or given them kisses.

I know how sensitve their little lungs are and I'd hate to make them sick.

Hope you and your husband are feeling better soon.

Laura

[entrancedbymyGCC]

I'm pretty sure there are a limited list of zoonotic that can be transmitted human to bird and vice versa, but it is a longer list that human-cat, and the only human-avian virus I can think of is "bird flu", most of the others are bacterial -- salmonella, E. Coli, Chlamydia. So if it's really cold or flu, you should be OK -- but if you are concerned, it can't hurt to call your vet! This info comes from my reading and a quick Google self-check, I'm not what you could call an expert! I note, however, that most of the information available is aimed at bird-to-human transmission rather than vice versa so there may actually not be a lot of data. But viruses are usually pretty species specific.

[MissLady9902]

I didn't think so either but I wanted to ask and see what everyone else thought.

I don't kiss my birds so that's not an issue and I've tired not to handle them too much while I've been sick.
Mostly I let them out so they can play although I do still let Marvin "sing" in the bathroom.

[Suzzique]

Entranced is right as long as it is only a cold or flu you are fine to handle your birds as normal. They can't catch what you have. Though when your not feeling good you just want to do as little as posible.